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Best htpc setup for 1024*768 plasma? - movies & gaming/browsing

post #1 of 8
6/23/08 at 8:20am
Thread Starter 
I am building a htpc for my new 42" plasma (samsung pn42a450 - 1024*768 resolution)
The htpc is based on intel g35 graphics with hdmi & vga out and I plan to upgrade soon to a discrete video card (pb. ATI 4xxx)

I have a big concern regarding the mapping between the pc video out and the display resolutions. Both are 1024*768 but the aspect ratio is different: 4:3 vs. 16:9 -> the image will appear streched on the display.
(obviously returning it and buying a 50" or a 1080p might solve all that but in Canada now the price delta is too big)

Now I could split my big concern into two smaller ones

1. watching movies. I understand that there are players/media center that can display the 1024*768 in 16:9 format.
I also think that I get the same result from the ati drivers: overlay -> theatre mode -> full screen.
Can you guys offer some suggestions as to which might be the best application(s) to use?

2. playing games/browsing
Now here it gets blurry a bit for me. While I don't mind the streched text I do sometimes play games and watch youtube videos.
If I use the 1024*768 through VGA games will display streched.
Should I use HDMI output and then the TV will scan the signal accordingly? Then what resolution should I choose in games?
I mean it's not like Gears of War for PC offer the 720p or 1080p display options but rather some explicit fullscreen/widescreen resolution. How/what should I do in this case?
And I guess the same apply for internet browsing.

Note: I also posted this message in the HTPC forum - I could not find a way to 'cross-post' it - I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused ...I just want to have as much feedback as possible.
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post #2 of 8
6/23/08 at 8:29am
I've dealt with this myself and personally I would use the VGA input, then set the resolution to 1360x768. This will be a scaled resolution, of course, but you won't have to worry about the constant aspect ratio headaches. Text should be readable, and video will look perfectly fine.

1024x768 will be razor sharp but you'll have to set up your video player to output 16:9 over 1024x768. In my experience this isn't as simple as it seems (though I think MCE handles this pretty well).
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post #3 of 8
6/23/08 at 8:56am
I had a 42" Panasonic commercial plasma with a resolution of 1024*768. For what it's worth, there's an option in VLC (a free media player) that will display widescreen content properly over the rectangular pixels. There's just a certain setting that you have to set to "4:3".

This won't really help you with gaming or browsing, though. But on my TV, using any resolution setting besides 1024*768 made the picture too soft.
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post #4 of 8
6/23/08 at 9:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by abelincoln View Post

I had a 42" Panasonic commercial plasma with a resolution of 1024*768. For what it's worth, there's an option in VLC (a free media player) that will display widescreen content properly over the rectangular pixels. There's just a certain setting that you have to set to "4:3".

This won't really help you with gaming or browsing, though. But on my TV, using any resolution setting besides 1024*768 made the picture too soft.

Media Player Classic also has a setting like this.

As you say it doesn't help with games or the web. If you have Netflix, the streaming movies will be stretched. Photos will be stretched, etc.
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post #5 of 8
6/23/08 at 10:06am
Thread Starter 
I was wondering if I use the hdmi out then the image will scale fine either movies/gaming/browsing.
I mean if I do the same using a PS3 through hdmi everything should be fine...I guess.
Why not using the HDMI out for the pc?...or is it just wishful thinking?...I guess it depends on the drivers too...I hope I'll finish my setup tonight to have a quick look.
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post #6 of 8
6/23/08 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbgood View Post

I was wondering if I use the hdmi out then the image will scale fine either movies/gaming/browsing.
I mean if I do the same using a PS3 through hdmi everything should be fine...I guess.
Why not using the HDMI out for the pc?...or is it just wishful thinking?...I guess it depends on the drivers too...I hope I'll finish my setup tonight to have a quick look.

The HDMI input may not accept 1024x768, 1360x768, etc. It may and it may not. VGA will accept those and it is designed for PC use. Most likely there won't be any noticeble picture quality differences between HDMI and VGA, and it doesn't make any difference in terms of scaling. You'll be facing the same issues no matter what input you choose.
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post #7 of 8
6/23/08 at 11:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chrisherbert View Post

You'll be facing the same issues no matter what input you choose.

That would suck.
So from a PS3 the output will be fine for gaming/browsing but from a PC through HDMI not?
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post #8 of 8
6/23/08 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbgood View Post

That would suck.
So from a PS3 the output will be fine for gaming/browsing but from a PC through HDMI not?

The PS3 will output 720p, 1080i, or 1080p and your set will scale those resolutions to 1024x768. The same thing will happen with the PC, but scaling will be much more noticable. Video game systems are designed to be usable on a wide variety of displays (including SD TVs, to an extent) so they don't use small text and icons.
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